The Hand That Wields It
by Pelican
Summary: Marth's divine sword is lost and he is forced to fight without it. Can he compete and will he ever see his sword again?
1. Marth is Stranded

Disclaimer: I do not own Super Smash Brothers: Melee, its characters, or anything related. 

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The Hand That Wields It

Chapter 1 – Marth is Stranded

By Pelican (Pelican_13@Yahoo.com)

04/13/2002

            Marth and Roy were awaiting their two-on-two fight with Mario and Luigi at Peach's Castle.  Marth and Roy were on the left side of the castle, practicing with their swords, while Mario and Luigi stood on the right side, working to prefect their punches and kicks.

"Are you guys ready to start?" an unseen announcer asked.

Mario gave a thumbs up in the direction of the camera crews in front of the castle.  Marth and Roy took their stances.

"Alright then," the same announcer said, "This is a two-on-two team battle, medium item appearance, one stock."

Luigi cracked his wrists, which each wore a white glove, and nodded to Mario.  Marth tightened his grip on his sword, the Falchion.

"GO!"

All four fighters jumped towards the middle of the arena.  Marth and Mario met first, above the highest tower of the castle.  Before Mario was even able to reach a fist to his opponent, Marth slashed his sword forward, striking Mario and knocking him backwards.  Marth fell to the roof below.  After jumping once in mid-air, Roy and Luigi neared each other, still airborne.  Luigi never had a chance to get close to Roy as Roy slashed his sword forward and got a hit on Luigi.

            Mario and Luigi stood to their feet on the right side of the castle while Marth and Roy watched from above on the tower.

"Hey Mario," Luigi called, "those swords are-a really long.  How will we attack them?"

"I don't-a know," Mario replied.

Marth and Roy both jumped down towards Mario and Luigi, ready to strike another blow with their swords.  They used the same airborne attacks as before, again knocking the two brothers backwards.  Mario and Luigi stood on the right edge of the castle while Marth and Roy stood before them.

"I've got an idea," Luigi announced and used his Green Missile technique.  He blasted himself forward but Roy anticipated the attack and used a forward smash attack.  He slashed his sword vertically forward and connected hard on Luigi's head.  Luigi sailed through the air and off the right side of the castle.  He had no chance of making it back to the castle walls.  His stock was eliminated.

Mario curled his right hand into a fist.  His white glove began to turn red.  He punched forward and opened his first, releasing a ball of fire directed toward Marth and Roy.  Roy was closest to Mario and simply but up his shield to avoid taking damage.  Marth sprung into action and charged forward.  He swiped his sword forward and got a nice hit in on Mario, who was knocked a couple of feet into the air and landed back on the edge of the castle.  Roy began to charge his Flare Blade attack while Marth took another shot at Mario.  This time Mario managed to engage his shield, but the force of the sword pushed him backwards and he nearly fell of the side.  He grabbed the edge, pulled himself up, and rolled past Marth.  Roy had his Flare Blade nearly fully charged when he saw Mario roll into range.  He released it with a yell and effectively knocked Mario of the edge.

"GAME!" an unknown voice announced.

            With a zap of energy all four superstars found themselves on their feet in a completely white room.  Each was standing on a metal transporter disc.

"That-a wasn't fair!" Luigi announced.

"I agree!" Mario added, "Those swords are too long.  We can't get close enough to attack!"

Roy turned to Marth, "See?  Even they know I have a big sword… now only if I could get Samus to agree."

Marth covered his face using his free hand with embarrassment, "They weren't talking about that sword."

            Elsewhere existed a room with several couches and a closed circuit TV from which the Melee stars could watch the matches.  Bowser was sitting on the floor to one side watching the screen, which now was just a shot of Peach's Castle.  Fox, Falco, and Ganondorf occupied the couch most centered toward the TV.

"That just didn't seem right," Falco announced to the group.

"I agree," Bowser responded, "I don't like Mario or Luigi but those swords just aren't fair."

"Here they come," Falco informed.  The group turned their attention toward the door.  It opened and Mario and Luigi entered.

"Oh, it's you," Bowser said.

Mario mumbled something incoherently and took a seat on one of the chairs.  Luigi also found himself a seat on the other side of the room.

The door had been left open and shortly later Marth and Roy entered.  Roy raised his hands above his head.

"Give it up!" Roy said, attempting to get some praise and recognition for beating the more famous characters.

"Doth thou use-eth a sword of metal because thou hasth none of flesh?" Falco asked, cracking fun at the sword users.  Marth and Roy did not return Falco's sarcasm.

"Don't be so blasé," Fox joined the conversation, "You guys seriously wouldn't stand a chance without your swords."

"And you seriously don't stand a chance when we have our swords," Marth returned.

Falco had been chuckling to himself after his joke.  He grabbed a pad of paper from the table in front of the couch and began to write something down.  "None of flesh," he said to himself as he finished his sentence.

Roy unsheathed his sword, the Sword of Seals, and slashed it forward at Falco vertically.  His sword cut the paper into two equal halves.  Roy returned his sword to his sheath and left the room.  Marth soon after followed.

            Marth caught up to Roy walking down a hallway and walked side by side with him.

"Was that really necessary?" Marth asked.

"I thought it was," Roy replied still focusing forward, "His joke wasn't even funny."

"Does this have anything to do with Samus?" Marth inquired.

"No," Roy quickly replied, "Uh, I've got to go."  Roy turned down another hallway and walked off.  Marth shook his head and smiled, then continued down his hallway.

            Marth soon arrived at his desired destination.  He pushed open a door and entered one of the many rooms of the melee complex.  Inside he found it to be another teleporter room, completely white with four metallic discs.  He redirected his attention and noticed a rather short man sitting behind the console that controls the teleporters.  He was reading a newspaper and Marth was able to make out the cover, 'Mushroom Times'.

"Excuse me," Marth said, trying to get the man's attention.

The man lowered his newspaper to see Marth.  He had black eyes and looked like he was very tired, as his eyes were half closed.

"Altea," Marth ordered as he stepped on a metal disc.

"Huh?" the man replied, "Oh yeah, right."  He yawned once and began punching buttons on his console.  He pushed down one more button and white light began to raise from the surface of the transporter.  In a flash of white light the disc was in a new location.  The disc disappeared and Marth fell to his feet.  He surveyed his surroundings.  He was on a dirt path through a forest.  He could tell we wasn't in Altea by the trees.  They were little more than trunks each with a bundle of green leaves atop them.  He tried to see down the road.  One direction seemed to lead to a small building, although Marth couldn't make much out of it from this distance.  He decided to walk in that direction and try to find where he was.  There was a noticeable lack of marker signs and any intelligent life.

            After a few minutes of walking, Marth looked up to the sky.  He noticed it was indeed growing darker and still he hadn't arrived at his destination.  He could see the strange building more clearly now, it looked like it had been built below a tree.  Although he could see no one occupying the building he did make out the glow of a fire beneath the tree outside.  He began to walk on until the darkness finally set in.  He found a stone rock, about twice the height of him, and leaned against it for the night.  He couldn't see the building he was walking towards, or the trees for that matter, because of the lack of light.  He rested his sword on the ground a few feet from him and tried to fall asleep.


	2. The Falchion is Stolen

The Hand That Wields It

Chapter 2 – The Falchion is Stolen

By Pelican (Pelican_13@Yahoo.com)

            "Yoshi's Island," Fox said over his radio.

"I don't see what's so great about it," Falco replied, "Zoness has better islands."

"Did you want to see Katt that badly?" Fox asked.

"What?" Falco replied sharply, "I don't like her!  I really don't!"

Fox and Falco were piloting their super-high performance fighter crafts, the ARWINGs, through the skies above Yoshi's Island.  It was a cloudless night and Falco was flying off Fox's wing.  Although it was dark, Falco managed to spot Yoshi's house with the keen eyes possessed by his race.

"Hey," Falco tried to change the subject, "there's Yoshi's house.  What do you say we set down?"

"Sounds good," Fox replied.  The two decreased their speed and began to descend toward the island.  Once they had lowered to less than 100 feet above ground level they landed vertically on the same dirt path Marth had set down on for the night.  Fox and Falco opened the canopies of their ARWINGs and jumped out of their fighters.

"Think anyone's home?" Fox asked.

"Maybe everyone's asleep," Falco suggested, "Our engines were on silent."

A few yards away, in the dark forest, something under the fallen leaves covering the ground jumped to its feet and ran off.  Fox and Falco heard the immediate rustle of the leaves and quickly looked in that direction.  They didn't see the creature that had made the noise in the dark but they heard more leaves rustling along its path.

Falco reached to his belt and drew his laser blaster, "Did you see it?" he asked.

"No," Fox replied, "but there aren't many hostile animals on Yoshi's Island.  It might just be a Koopa Troopa."

"I'm going to catch it," Falco informed as he stepped forward.

"Whatever," Fox replied, "I'll just go and have a look over here."

Falco continued into the forest, although in the darkness most beings wouldn't be able to make out the outline of a tree.  Fox walked off in the opposite direction, surveying the area to the best of his diurnal eye's ability.  He came upon a large boulder on the side of the road.  From the light of one of the stars above he was able to see a glimmer reflecting off metal.  He looked up from the small flash of light and saw Marth sleeping against the rock.

"Marth?" Fox thought to himself, "Why is he here and," Fox looked back down at the sword.  "He left his sword unattended."  A grin crossed the sides of his muzzle.  He picked up the sword, the sword Marth had used in every melee match he had been in, and steadily hurried back to his ARWING.

            Fox jumped to the canopy of his ship.  He reached his gloved hand under the glass and pulled it up.  The canopy automatically popped open and Fox sat in his pilot's seat.  He set the Falchion sword down to his side and started his craft's engine.

"Fox!?" Falco yelled as he heard an engine beginning to start.  He ran back to the ARWINGs and managed to make it back before Fox took off.  "Where are you going!?"

"Sorry, Falco," Fox yelled back, "I have to go.  Catch up with you later!"  With that he closed the canopy of his fighter and lifted off the ground.  In the accent above the crown canopy of the forest he turned his craft to face towards the ocean.  He closed his wings and boosted forward.  Falco could no longer see Fox, as the trees were now an obstruction.

"Fine!" Falco yelled aloud, "Just leave me on the ground here."

            The next day the sun had risen and the forest was becoming visible.  Great shadows were cast down on the dirt path below and on a mysterious hut under some small trees.  A little way down the road Marth was waking up from a rather nice slumber considering he was leaning against a rock.

"MY SWORD!" Marth yelled aloud.  He jumped to his feet and frantically scanned the ground for the Falchion.

"I…left…it right here," he said in disbelief.  He ran to the other side of the rock and hastily checked the ground.

"HELLO!?" he yelled.  He turned around and walked back to the side of the rock he woke up on.

He began to run down the path toward the building he had started out on.  He didn't seem to notice the ARWING in the middle of the road as he ran past and stopped at the door.  He was about to knock on the front door, made of four vertical pieces of lumber, when the door opened from inside.  Marth saw Falco step out, looking inside and saying, "Thanks for letting me stay the night."

"Falco!" Marth said, louder than necessary.  Falco turned around and jumped.

"Marth?" Falco asked, "What are you doing here?"

Marth was about to answer when Yoshi came over to see what the commotion was about.

"Yoshi?" Marth asked, "Is this your island?"

"Yeah," Yoshi replied in his high-pitched voice, "what did you expect?"

"There was a transporter accident and I wound up here and then someone STOLE MY SWORD!" Marth explained.

"Have you seen it?  Who else lives around here?" Marth asked frantically.  Yoshi began to look confused.

"Why don't you come inside?" Yoshi invited Marth in by pushing open the door.

Marth stepped inside while Falco walked back to his ship.  Marth looked around the completely wooden building that was Yoshi's home.  Falco jumped up to the cockpit and opened the canopy.  He sat in his chair and pushed a button in front of him, closing his canopy.  As Marth and Yoshi entered the living room they heard an engine flare up.  Falco took hold of his joystick and eased the spacecraft into the air.  It slowly ascended above the level of the treetops and locked its wings in the closed position, then activated its boosters to begin to propel forward.

            Meanwhile, aboard the Star Fox team's command ship, Great Fox, Fox McCloud had returned with Marth's object of desire, the sword Falchion.  He was in his quarters with the door shut.  His room wasn't anything fancy with just a bed up against a corner and a dresser full of his uniforms.  The walls and floor were coated metal and the only light was on the ceiling in the middle of the room.  The only window on the ship was in the cockpit.

"Where should I hide this?" Fox thought to himself.

He walked over to his dresser and opened it.  It was full of his usual jackets and a few other articles of clothing.  He moved a few pairs of clothes aside and propped the sword against the back wall.  He moved the clothes back and took a step backward to see if his idea would work.  To his dismay he could still see the sword.

"This won't work," he said to himself, "Maybe I shouldn't hide it where it can have any connection to me."  He reached into his dresser and grabbed the sword.  He looked at the sword for a few moments.  Its handle was golden; it had a few inches that were clearly meant for someone to wield the sword from.  At the very bottom was a decorative green jewel engraved into and thicker cylinder of gold.  Where the handle met the blade two pieces of gold curved upward on either side, a little past where the metal of the sword starts.  Directly between the two ornamental gold curves was a larger red jewel.  That was just describing the handle.  The sword itself was well forged and was engraved at the base with some unknown divine pattern.

"Maybe I can make some money selling it," Fox thought to himself maniacally.

            A while later inside the building that houses the royal family of Hyrule, Hyrule Castle, Zelda was sitting in the empty castle courtyard thinking.  The courtyard wasn't visible from outside the stone castle; it was enclosed with the only exit being under a stone arch and down an outside pathway with decorative stone statues and several guards.   The princess was sitting on the steps that led to a window that could peer into the throne room.  They arched upwards to create a platform over the stream that ran on the sides of the castle.  In the center of the courtyard a patch of flowers had been grown.  The princess looked at them and sighed.

"What should I get Link as a gift?" she asked herself, "Maybe a new tunic."

"Let's see…what does he already have?" she thought over her idea, "Green, red, blue, white, black, what else does he need?"  
  


"No, not a new tunic," she thought to herself, crossing off her first idea, "I just can't think of anything."

            Meanwhile above the kingdom of Hyrule an ARWING was en route to the castle.  Fox began to descend as he saw the castle; he didn't want to attract the attention of any of the guards or the entire town.  He began a vertical descent on the path leading between the town and the castle gates.  He set his ARWING down and jumped off.  He'd been invited to the castle before, but this time he wanted to get to Princess Zelda without anyone knowing.  He was still holding the sword in his right hand.  He looked up at the cliffs on either side of him.

"I know there is a way up there," he said to himself.  His attention was caught by a few vines running down the side of the cliff.  "Bingo," he said aloud.

He began to awkwardly climb the vines with a sword in one hand.  He reached the top and pulled himself up.  He now had a much better view of the castle being over the cliffs.  He also noticed a strange stone with one eye near him.  He began to walk forward.  He noticed that the stone arch that enclosed the gate looked more like a bridge from up here, he also noticed a guard ready to arrest anyone who tried to use it as a bridge to the castle.

Fox reached the stone arch and found an inconspicuous hole off to his right.  He looked down and saw a wooden ladder leading down to a small room lit by one torch on the wall.  He made one quick glance around to see if any guards were looking and then began to climb down into the small guardroom.  As he reached the bottom he stepped down from the ladder to the stone-tiled floor below.  He cautiously turned the handle on the door and pushed it open.  He found himself on the other side of the gate.  He began to advance on the laid out dirt path but stopped when he saw two guards on the same path above him.  Slowly, he climbed the hill between the stone arch where one guard waited and the dirt path where two guards kept their post.  Fox reached the top of the hill without being noticed by either guard.  He began to walk down the dirt path again and reached where it curved to the castle.  He again stopped in his tracks as he spotted two guards, near the raised drawbridge.

Fox walked over to the other side of the castle yard, remembering one of the stories Link told around the other melee stars of how he managed to sneak into the castle to meet the princess, Zelda.  He found what he was looking for, a wall covered in rough stones.  He took hold of a stone with his free arm and pulled himself up.  Then he placed both of his feet on different stones and began to climb, still with Marth's sword in his hand.  Soon he reached the top and pulled himself up.  He was closer to the castle than ever before, he had to look up to see the top and he could hear the sound of water running in the moat.  He was standing on an incline that separates the front lawn form the castle, the only real entrance being a guarded gate, but Fox found another way.  He looked down at the moat and down the road, near the drawbridge.

"I'm going to have to get wet," Fox said to himself.  He removed his white jacket and gripped the sword tighter.  In one swift motion he jumped down into the moat.  His body caused a splash in the water that no guards were in close enough proximity to hear.  Fox surfaced and gasped in air.  He listened for the sound of any moving guards.  When he heard none, he began to swim towards the drawbridge.  The other direction lead into a small gated opening in the hill to the west of the castle from which new water flowed.  Fox made it past the drawbridge and the two guards without drawing any attention and still holding the sword.  As he reached a point where the moat turned to the left to follow the castle walls, he noticed the water level was a little lower near the far side of the moat.  He stepped onto the raised surface below and up to the road level.  He had made it past the guards, but that was the main entrance into the castle.  He looked to his other side; there existed a smaller door that led into the castle and an odd crate of milk.  He also noticed the moat went through a grate and under the castle.

Fox advanced to the somehow out-of-place box of Lon Lon Milk.  He glanced over at the castle walls when something caught his attention.  A small tunnel with a steady trickle of water running though had been installed in the castle.  Above it was the symbol of the royal family of Hyrule, the Triforce.  Fox again recalled stories Link told about his adventure in Hyrule and specifically the part of how he managed to get into the castle.  Fox climbed to the top of the wood box with a cow logo on it and positioned himself to jump over the moat.


	3. Inside the Castle Walls

The Hand That Wields It

Chapter 3 – Inside the Castle Walls

By Pelican (Pelican_13@Yahoo.com)

            Fox took one step forward and leaped to the other side, still with the stolen sword Falchion in his hand.  He grabbed the ledge, pulled himself up, and began to crawl through the small outlet.  He was already dripping wet and didn't seem to mind the new water he was crawling through.  Soon he had breached the castle walls.  He stood and looked around.  He found he was standing in a small pool of fresh water in a garden.  There was a door on one of the stone walls and a path in the grass leading away from the door.  Fox began to walk off in that direction.  He passed a few stone statues, many containing the symbol of the royal family.  Ahead of him he saw a guard making patrols around one of the garden displays.  He began to move ever more quietly as he neared the guard.  Fox took cover behind a bush and waited for the guard to face the other way.  He did, and began to walk to the other side of the garden, giving Fox an open opportunity.  Fox swiftly ran past the guards and made his way to the Zelda's courtyard.  He spotted Zelda facing the window as he entered via the stone arch.  He slowly approached her but stopped when she began to speak.

"I can't believe I still haven't thought of anything to get Link as a gift," she said to herself.

Fox drew within ten feet of her.  He could hear what she was saying and an idea popped to his head.  "Why don't you get him a new sword?" he asked her abruptly.

Zelda quickly spun around to see the new presence.  When he saw it was Fox, one of her melee friends, she sighed.  "You scared me," she managed to say.

"Uh, sorry," was Fox's reply.

"How did you manage to get past all the guards?" Zelda asked, worrying that her security system was flawed.

"I remembered Link's stories of how he got past the castle guards.  I conveniently forgot the part about getting wet."

Zelda had a small laugh at Fox's wetness.  He did look a little silly with water dripping from his fur.

"Anyway," Fox tried to change the subject, "I came across this."  Fox brought the sword into clear view of the princess.  "Think your boyfriend might like it?"

"Well, maybe," Zelda paused for a moment, "Hey!  I never said he was my boyfriend."

Fox looked dumbfounded for a moment, then got a grip on the situation.  "Well anyway," he began, "you know I'm a mercenary so I can't just give you this quality sword for free."

"Alright," Zelda replied, "All I have on me is 500 rupees."  Zelda held up a gold rupee; like all rupees it was ridiculously large to be used as currency.

"I'll take it," Fox said with a smile, "but has Hyrule heard of paper money yet?"

Fox and Zelda exchanged items.  Fox was still admiring the size of the normal currency in Hyrule.  "How do I carry it?" he asked.

"If it bothers you that much you can get it exchanged in town," Zelda suggested.

"For what?" Fox asked, "Chickens."

Zelda looked at Fox strangely, "We do have currency exchanges here, you know.  Hyrule is one nation among many."

Fox looked a little foolish for a few moments, "Oh."

Zelda laughed at Fox once again.  "I can have my personal guard escort you outside the castle walls.  I want to give this to Link right away, I'll send her over on the way."

"Sounds good," Fox replied.  He took a seat on the stone steps as Zelda walked off under the stone arch of the courtyard.

            Soon Zelda had reached the door and entered the castle.  She was walking down an elegant hallway when she noticed Impa making her patrols.

"Impa!" Zelda called to her from the other side of the hallway.

Zelda was still holding the wet sword when Impa approached Zelda.

"I need you to escort someone out of the castle," Zelda said.

"Who?" Impa asked.

"He's waiting in the courtyard," Zelda replied.

"What does he look like?"

"Umm," Zelda thought for a moment, "A Keaton that stands upright and wears clothes and has only one tail."

Impa raised an eyebrow at the notion.  "A Keaton?" she asked.

"Yes," Zelda replied as she began to walk off, "You can't miss him."

"Odd," Impa said to herself as she walked off to her task.

            Zelda made her way to one of the royal washrooms of the castle.  She was holding a cloth and drying off the divine sword when she heard a figure walking down the stone hallway outside.

"Link, champion of Super Smash Brothers: Melee," Link said to himself.

Zelda listened in as Link talked to himself as he passed down the hallway.

"Link, the Hero of Time, wielder of the Master Sword, the best sword in existence."

Zelda poked her head out the door and watch as Link walked further and further away.

"The best sword in existence," the words sank in as Link opened a door and closed it behind him, leaving Zelda to think.  She stepped into the hallway and looked at the sword.

"He wouldn't give up the Sword of Time.  What was I thinking?" she asked herself, "Now what do I do with this?"

            The next day all the stars from Super Smash Brothers: Melee were sitting in the lounge watching the matches.  The current contest was between Pichu and Mario at Mute City.  The battle platform lowered near the finish line.  Pichu had one stock remaining while Mario had four.  Mario jumped above Pichu and threw down a powerful punch, pounding Pichu into the racetrack.  Mario timed his attack perfectly and jumped to avoid a wave of oncoming F-Zero X racers.  Pichu stood only to be hit by the first of thirty anti-gravity racers.  Pichu was knocked high above the arena and was eliminated.

"GAME!" an unseen voice proclaimed.

"That's the sixth loss for Pichu in a row," Ness announced.

"Too bad for Pichu," Peach said sympathetically.

Pichu and Mario entered the lounge after being teleported back.  They each found seats and watched the next matches.  Pichu sat on the floor just below Zelda on the couch.  Zelda leaded over to talk to Pichu.

"Pichu," Zelda whispered so no one else could hear, "if you want to start to win, I have something that can help you.  Meet me in the locker room in 5 minutes."

Pichu nodded without turning his attention away from the TV screen.  Zelda stood up and walked towards the locker room to wait.

"Did anyone hear about Marth's sword?" Captain Falcon tried to make conversation.

            Five minutes later Pichu entered.  Zelda was holding a long cardboard box, apparently carrying the sword.

"The item in this box will help you win," Zelda started, "Get you off your losing streak."

Pichu tilted its head a little like many rodent pokémon do when they think.

"I'll let you have it for only 1,000 poké dollars," Zelda offered.

1,000 poké dollars is enough to buy 5 pokéballs or 1 poké doll, it's a fairly cheap price for a divine sword.  Pichu nodded his head and walked over to his locker, which was on the lowest level, of course.  He reached into his locker and pulled out a bill.  He held the bill up to Zelda, who took it and set the box on the floor.  She walked off looking at the currency used in Kanto and Johto.

As Zelda exited Pichu opened the box.  He had to jump to see over the sides and examine what he had just bought.  He saw the sword and looked at it strangely.  He jumped into the box and tried to lift the sword, but found that he couldn't.

"Pi," Pichu said to himself in confusion.

Just then Pikachu and Jigglypuff entered the locker room.  Pichu jumped out of the box to talk to the two new arrivals.

"Pi pi pi chu chu pi!" Pichu explained, making several hand motions as he talked.

"Jigg?" Jigglypuff asked, "Jiggly puff jiggly jiggly jigglypuff."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu replied.

            Later Captain Falcon and Bowser were walking down the hall when they noticed an odd precession of Pikachu, Jigglypuff, and Pichu walking down the hallway carrying a cardboard box over their heads.

"What are they," Captain Falcon started.

"Don't even ask," Bowser interrupted.


	4. Marth's Plight

The Hand That Wields It

Chapter 4 – Marth's Plight

By Pelican (Pelican_13@yahoo.com)

"The next match is Marth versus Mewtwo," the intercom in the melee lounge boomed.

"Next match: Marth versus Mewtwo," the intercom repeated.

"But I haven't found my sword yet," Marth said to the intercom.

"He can't hear you," Ness informed.

"Just try fighting without your sword," Peach suggested.

Marth stood and walked into the teleporter room adjacent to the lounge. Mewtwo psychically raised himself of the couch and levitated into the same room. The teleporter room was pure white with four metal discs that awaited the combatants. Marth stepped up to the one with the largest distance away from the door and Mewtwo stood on the one closest.

"One on one, two stock match, no items, no time limit," another voice began to announce on the intercom, "The stage is Final Destination."

In a zap of white light the two fighters were instantaneously transported to their arena, Final Destination. Marth was on the far left while Mewtwo stood on the far right. Marth put up his fists in an attempt to look ready for the match.

"GO!" the match announcer boomed over the PA.

Mewtwo began to charge a Shadow Ball attack, Marth didn't move. He had never been in a melee arena without the Falchion in his hand. Marth managed to gather this thoughts and began a charge toward Mewtwo, he had one fist behind him that he was going to use for a forward punch to Mewtwo's face but Mewtwo released his Shadow Ball before Marth got in range. Marth fell to the ground, ignited by purple psychic energy. Marth rolled forward to try and get in an offensive against Mewtwo but he rolled right into Mewtwo's grab. Marth struggled to break free but Mewtwo slammed him to the surface of Final Destination, jumped up, and came down with a tail attack.

Back at the melee complex almost the entire roster was watching the match from the lounge.

"Ohh"

"Ouch"

The group collectively winced in empathetic pain with each hit Marth took. They all sat back and watched as Marth was blasted, thrown, and tail whipped left and right, and then eliminated.

"That didn't take long," Link declared.

"He still has another life," Bowser informed.

Marth returned to the arena on his metal disc, he dropped to the ground momentarily invulnerable. However, he was unable to capitalize on his invulnerability as Mewtwo was on the other side of the arena. Mewtwo and Marth ran towards the center of the arena, both wanting to eliminate their opponent. Mewtwo had two lives remaining and no damage while Marth had only one stock and had just returned so was at no damage.

Mewtwo used his strong attack first, he placed both hands forward and faced one up and one down, allowing psychic energy to channel to the gap between his fingers while he continued to move forward, striking Marth. In the lounge people continued to watch the fight. Fox sat off in the corner, knowing he was the cause of Marth's plight. Zelda sat on the couch but remained uncharacteristically quiet. The only members of the roster that weren't present for the watching of the matches were Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, and Bowser.

The group continued to wince and flinch and generally look empathetically sorry as Marth's second stock was eliminated almost effortlessly by Mewtwo, who had taken no damage during the fight.

"I think-a he-a deserved that," Luigi said.

"You're just upset because you lost," Peach replied.

"Well that match wasn't fair!" Luigi protested.

"Neither was this one."

"That's-a why he deserved it!" Luigi reiterated.

Fox exited the room for one of the hallways, no one noticed because they were busy talking and Fox was sitting off to a corner anyway. The only one that seemed to notice was Zelda, because she wasn't talking anyway. She got up to try to catch up to Fox.

The rest of the melee fighters were discussing the fight while Zelda ran to meet Fox in one of the many hallways.

"Fox!" Zelda called out.

Fox stopped and turned around to see Zelda. Fox was wearing a new jacket after leaving his first one behind in Hyrule.

"Fox," Zelda said again as she caught up to him.

"What is it?" Fox asked.

"Please don't tell me you don't know."

"You have Marth's sword now, it's not my problem," Fox replied, "I never liked Marth anyway."

"You stole the sword in the first place," Zelda retaliated.

Before Zelda could continue Fox cut it, "Please don't tell anyone!" Fox continued to beg, "I can't have my career here ruined over this. Please, Zelda."

"I didn't plan to turn you in," Zelda started, "I sold the sword to Pichu."

Fox raised an eyebrow at the notion, "Pichu?"

"Yes, Pichu," Zelda confirmed, "but that's beside the point. What should we do about this?"

"Why do you care what happens to Marth? It was unfair how he used that sword in matches to begin with." Fox began to interrogate, "Do you like Marth or something? Did it end between you and Link?"

"No, it's nothing like that," Zelda began, then paused for a moment. "I didn't say I was going out with Link!"

Fox began to laugh; Zelda looked less then amused. "I feel bad because this is tearing Marth apart!"

"Again, why do you care?" Fox asked.

"Why don't you care?"

"Marth really bugged me, especially how he fought."

"We could both lose our jobs over this."

Fox began to look more compromising. "What did you have in mind?"

"Help me get it back," Zelda requested, "You fly those metal things, you should be able to get us somewhere fast."

"How do you know where to go?"

"I don't but let's ask the teleporter rooms where they last sent Pichu."

"Ohh, Fox is a criminal," a voice from behind the couple said. Fox and Zelda redirected their attention to see Falco listening in on them.

"Falco!" Fox said louder than he should have.

"You were spying on us?" Zelda asked in indignation.

"I never figured you two to be the evil types," Falco began.

"Falco," Fox said in a more threatening tone, "don't you dare tell anyone about this!"

  
"Why don't you beg me like you were to Zelda earlier?"

"You were listening in on us that long?" Zelda cut in.

"When I saw you leave right after Fox I thought you two might be…involved," Falco responded.

"What?" Zelda asked, shocked. "I'm not involved with Fox! How could you even think that?"

"Hey," Fox cut in, offended, "I have feelings too."

"I didn't mean it like that," Zelda apologized.

"Anyway," Falco tried to get back to the important topic.

"Falco what do you want?" Fox asked boldly, "Are you going to blackmail us?"

"Fox, I'm shocked. I wouldn't do something like that."

"Yes, you would," Fox and Zelda replied in unison.

"Okay," Falco admitted, "I would but I'm your friend. Plus I wanted to see that Marth person suffer. I just can't believe you stole."

"It's not something I'm proud of," Fox said looking at the floor.

"Dude, don't talk like that," Falco reacted to Fox's look of shame, "It was great! You should have seen the look on Marth's face when he got to Yoshi's house with his sword stolen."

"What does Yoshi know of all this?" Zelda asked.

"I don't think much, I spent the night at Yoshi's and was just leaving when Marth came looking for his sword," Falco answered, "For all everyone else knows Yoshi was just the first one Marth told about the theft."

"Do they suspect him?" Zelda asked concerned.

"I don't know if Marth suspects Yoshi but most of us think Marth just lost his sword."

"Well this is all well and good but as we speak the sword could be getting farther and farther away," Fox informed, "Let's go and try to find it."

"Falco?" Zelda asked, "Can you ask Yoshi what he knows about all this while Fox and I try and get the sword back?"

Falco thought for a moment, "Alright, but I'm not getting too involved with this."

"Okay, that's our plan for now," Fox said. He and Zelda continued down the hallway and Falco walked back to the lounge room.

Zelda and Fox walked into one of the transporter rooms, the one in closest proximity to the locker room. They found the room to be empty and without an operator.

"This is most likely where they left from," Zelda stated.

"Let me see," Fox said as he walked to the operator's position behind the console, one of which is present in each teleporter room. Fox began to dexterously push spots on the metal surface of the console; the only thing distinguishing the different areas were lighted in spots that looked like buttons. After a few moments Fox had his answer.

"I found them!" he announced, "Get on the transporter and we can leave right now."

Zelda complied and stepped on a transporter disc. Fox pushed a few more buttons and ran to another teleporter disc. They stood for a second or two and then were whisked away in a brilliant white light.

While Fox and Zelda pursued the sword Falco returned to the lounge. Fighters were still watching the matches from the couches. Falco spotted Yoshi sitting on the chair closest to the teleporter room's door. Falco decided to just take a seat and watch the matches for now.


	5. Arbitary Failure

The Hand That Wields It

Chapter 5 – Arbitrary Failure

By Pelican (Pelican_13@yahoo.com)

            "Why didn't you tell me where we were going?" Zelda asked.  She and Fox were in an alley of an apparently medieval city.  All the buildings almost connected and were lined with wooden, shuddered windows.  Both melee stars recognized the place as Hyrule Castle Town.

"What's wrong with this place?" Fox replied with a question.

"I can't be seen here without my guards and my royal precession."

"But why?"

"I'm these people's princess!  They'd swarm all over me!"

"Then stay here, I'll go look for the sword."

"No!" Zelda replied sharply, "If someone finds me alone here…"

"Alright," Fox cut Zelda off, "What should we do?"

"We have to get a transport back," Zelda declared, "Do you have a cell?"

"Not on me," Fox replied, "I'm in fighting gear."

"We should have planned this out better," Zelda stated.

"Yeah," Fox agreed.  "Hey, wait a second.  Why don't you transform into Sheik?"

"Sheik?  The people here will still recognize me as royalty," Zelda responded, "and now everyone knows who Sheik really is."

"You move faster as Sheik, we can get past these crowds in a flash."

"It's worth a try."  After some deliberation, Zelda whirled around, engulfed with the magic spell, Nayru's Love, and stopped in her form known as Shiek.

"Let's make a dash for the castle," Sheik suggested.

"I'm ready," Fox replied.  The two began a mad run through the market square of the city and down the path leading to the castle.  Few people recognized the two celebrities speeding by, as they were busy with their haggling.

            The lounge had been beginning to clear out as stars fought and went off on their own endeavors.  Falco remained, attempting to get a moment alone to ask Yoshi what he knew.  So far he hadn't a chance.  Yoshi was one of the last people in the room but Falco continued to wait patiently.  He had lost all interest in the matches.

            "Well, we made it," Fox said as he stepped foot on the cliff above the vines.

Sheik changed form back into Zelda and surveyed the castle form afar.

"Please don't tell me we have to dodge the guards again," Fox said in a whiney tone.

"I don't think so," Zelda replied, "They should know who I am, who we both are for that matter."

"Great!" Fox said, relieved.  "At least we know the sword is somewhere in Hyrule."

"It might have found its way to the other side of the kingdom for all we know," Zelda suggested.

"Maybe… but let's try searching the city for it again once we're more prepared," Fox said, "Maybe one of the local merchants purchased it."

"Possibly," Zelda replied.  She and Fox walked on towards Hyrule Castle.

            The last match of the day had ended and all that remained in the lounge was Falco, Yoshi, and Mewtwo.  Falco was genuinely bored but had nothing to do anyway so he stuck to his task.  Mewtwo lifted his body out of his chair using his abilities as a psychic pokémon and levitated towards the exit.  As he left the automatic door closed behind him.  Yoshi stood to his feet and began to walk toward the exit.  At first it didn't register to Falco that Yoshi could get away but once his trail of thought returned to his task he sprung to his feet.

"Yoshi," Falco called.  Yoshi, who had reached the exit, turned around.

"I need to talk to you about Marth," Falco said, "What do you know about how he lost his sword?"

"Nothing," Yoshi replied, "He was frantic once he got to my house.  He left to search the forest a few minutes after you left."

Falco thought a moment about the new information.  "Does he think you have it?"

"I don't!" Yoshi protested.

"I didn't say you did," Falco replied defensively.

"I think a wandering Koopa Troopa stole it," Yoshi suggested, "They've been known to cause trouble."

"Yeah, maybe.  I've got to go," Falco said as he exited the room.  Yoshi followed behind.  The two departed down separate hallways.  Falco's inquiry had revealed no new information and Fox and Zelda's pursuit of the sword was over before it could really begin.

            The next day Fox, Falco, and Zelda all requested that management place them in early matches.  It isn't odd that someone asks to fight first so all three were granted early slots.  Falco scored an impressive victory over Bowser in a five-minute brawl.  Zelda teamed with Samus and lost to Ganondorf and Captain Falcon by a mere one point.  Almost the entire melee roster was in the lounge watching the current fight: Fox versus Luigi at Mushroom Kingdom II.  With less than thirty seconds left to go the score was tied.  Luigi stood between the two layers of brick blocks in the middle while Fox stood on the blocks to the right at a higher damage.  Luigi attempted a Green Missile but misfired, causing him to ignite in flames and blast forward, still in line with Fox.  Fox reacted quickly and dodged to one side, allowing Luigi to fly right past and to his elimination.  Fox led with a score of zero to negative one as Luigi came back on his revival disc with 10 seconds remaining.  Luigi made an attempt to eliminate Fox as quickly as possible but Fox jumped higher than Luigi's reach and used his Fire Fox technique to run the clock even more.  Upon Fox's decent the match timer hit zero.

"Time!" the announcer declared, "This game's winner is Fox!"

Soon Fox and Luigi joined the other melee stars in the lounge to watch the rest of the matches.

"The next match is Pikachu versus Ness," the PA announced, "Pikachu and Ness, next match."

Fox, Falco, and Zelda managed to slip away from the crowd and exit the lounge virtually unnoticed.  In the hallway they began to discuss their plan.

"Our last attempt was too haphazard," Zelda stated, "We need a better plan."

"Why don't we just ask Pichu who has the sword now?" Falco suggested.

"Luigi poked me right in the eye," Fox said, off-topic, "That's the only reason I didn't do so well in that match."

"So?" Zelda replied, "I lost my match.  It really doesn't matter."

"Are we coming up with a plan or not?" Falco asked impatiently.

"Let's start by going to Hyrule Castle.  I've arranged for some disguises we can use to get into town incognito," Zelda said.

"Please don't make me look like one of your Keatons."

"Here's the plan: we get Fox to run into the crowd as a Keaton to distract everyone while we get the sword," Zelda joked.

"Ha," was Fox's reply, "very funny."

"Can we get to a transporter room already?" Falco asked impatiently once again.

            After more of Falco's impatience the group arrived at one of the transporter rooms.  There was no operator present so Fox took the controls again.  After a few keystrokes on the science-fiction-like console the three appeared in Hyrule Castle in a flash of white light.

"Where now?" Falco asked.

"Just follow me," Zelda replied.  "We can wear black capes to get into town incognito."

"Oh, that's real inconspicuous," Falco replied sarcastically.

"Would you rather they think you a mutated blue cucco?" Zelda asked.

The two Star Fox pilots followed Zelda to one of the many rooms of the castle while continuing their conversation.

            Later, the three were walking down the path to Hyrule Castle town.  Each wore a black cloak with concealed all their skin, fur, or feathers, and their faces.  The three entered the city and surveyed the city square.

"Where do you think it would be?" Fox asked.

"Most likely the Bazaar," Zelda replied, "They deal in swords and weaponry."

The three made their way through the crowds to the Bazaar's building.  Zelda entered first.  Behind the counter stood an insanely muscular man wearing a vest that revealed his chest.  On either side of him his wares were being displayed.  He had a few bundles of arrows and a Hylian shield but no swords.

"Can I help you?" the man asked, apparently confused with the odd attire the three wore.

"We're looking for a sword," Fox stated.

"What in specific?  A rapier, katana?" the man asked.

"We believe a special sword was sold here today," Zelda cut in, "It is known as the Falchion."

"Hmm," the man thought for a moment.  "I did buy a special sword today, but it has already been sold."

"To who?" Falco asked.

"The economy isn't as good here as it once was.  I had to sell it somewhere where I could make more money," the man answered, "I sold it to the Pokémon center in Pewter City."

"Pewter City?  Why there?" Fox asked.

"They wanted something for decoration," the man answered.  "So can I interest you in something else?"

The three replied negatively and exited the building.  They made their way through the crowd once again and back to the castle.

"Our economy isn't bad," Zelda broke the silence.

"Well what do we do now?" Fox asked.

"We go to Pewter City," Zelda answered.

Falco took off the hood of his cape.  "Man, these are hot."

"You can't take the heat?" Fox asked.

"I'm definitely not taking the heat if you two get caught," Falco answered.

  
"That's nice to know," Fox replied.

            Eventually the three made it back to the melee headquarters, still wearing their black cloaks.  As they were walking down the hallway Bowser approached them.

"Why are you guys dressed like that?" Bowser asked.

The three looked at each other, expecting one of them to answer.

"And how come you took off after your matches?  And why did you request early matches?" Bowser continued with his inquiry.

"How about this?" Falco replied, "You come with us and we'll explain everything."

"Sounds fine," Bowser said, "You guys have been acting very strange recently."


	6. Bowser's Skulk

The Hand That Wields It

Chapter 6 – Bowser's Skulk

By Pelican (Pelican_13@yahoo.com)

            "So, why again do you want to get his sword back?" Bowser asked.

Bowser and Zelda were sitting in the back seats of a shuttle-like craft.  Fox and Falco sat in the front, Fox having control of the ship.

"Because we don't want to be found out and fired," Zelda answered.

"What if no one finds you?  Then that loser Marth will just continue to lose," Bowser said without sympathy.

"Yeah," Falco agreed, "Why again don't we want that?"

"Because Zelda has a thing for Marth," Fox answered.

"No!" Zelda shot back, "I'm going out with Link!"

"Oh, you admit it now," Fox replied.

"I'm just a kind, caring person, and I can't stand to see Marth getting beat up like that," Zelda stated.

"Then why did these two join you?" Bowser asked.

"Because if they didn't I could get them both fired," Zelda answered.

"You're so 'kind' and 'caring'," Fox said with obvious sarcasm.

"Hey!" Falco shot, "You can't get me fired.  I'm innocent!"

"Guilty by association," Fox said teasingly.

"So why did Pichu buy the sword in the first place?" Bowser continued to ask questions.  A silence filled the shuttle.

"I really don't know," Zelda finally answered.

"And how far is it to Pewter City?" Bowser asked.

"Don't make me stop the car and come back there!" Fox said, beginning to get annoyed at Bowser's interrogation.

"Well, why couldn't we take a transporter?"

"We didn't want all those transports logged on our records, so we rented a shuttle," Falco answered tiredly.

"Normally, I would never travel in a rental," Zelda stated.

"When do you have to return it?" Bowser asked yet another question.

"Why would you want to know," Fox stopped in the middle of his sentence.  "Bowser, you're paying for that!"

"It's not my fault!" Bowser replied.

"What happened?" Falco asked, confused.

"I was born with these spikes on my shell; I can't help if chairs weren't designed to accommodate that."

"The shuttle service back at the headquarters is going to be pissed," Fox informed.

"Fine, I'll pay for the whole shuttle.  I'll have to dip into my war fund again and delay my invasion of the Mushroom Kingdom."

"What?" Zelda, Fox, and Falco asked in unison.

"Oh, nothing."

"Arg," Fox said disgruntled, "At least we're almost there."

The space shuttle began to slowly descend towards Pewter City.  It was designed to be more of a space car than a large shuttle.  The rockets propelling the craft slowly died down and the shuttle landed.

"Which route is this?" Zelda asked, "Route 2?"

"I can never tell them apart.  Just don't make us have to walk through the Viridian Forest," Falco said.

"Don't worry, it's just a little walk into the city," Fox assured the group.  Fox pressed a button on the dashboard and the engines shut down completely.  The doors opened and the four melee superstars stepped out.

            The four enter the city a little while later.  Although they were definitely an odd precession, they went unnoticed, as no one was doing business outside, unlike the marketplace gridlock of Hyrule Castle Town.  The four spotted a building with a "Mart" sign posted alongside the door and approached it.

"What exactly do we say?" Zelda asked.

"How much money do we have?" Falco asked.

"I still have a golden rupee," Fox answered.

"And I have one thousand poké dollars," Zelda answered.

"I have a plan," Bowser stated.  "Fox, you use Zelda's poké dollars and try to buy something from the clerk while Falco and I look for the sword."

"And do what when you find it?" Zelda asked, partially offended that she had no part in the plan.

"Figure it out," Bowser replied.

"Fine, but I'll have no part in it," Zelda unequivocally said.

"Actually," Fox cut in.  He slyly snatched the 1,000 poké dollar bill from Zelda.  "We're using your money."

"Let's go in already, it's been a while since I got the trill of committing a crime," Falco inserted.  The three other smashers looked at him strangely.

"I mean," Falco began, "um, it's a terrible thing we have to break the law and all but one has to do what one had to do."

"Whatever, I'm going in," Fox said.  He pushed open the door and entered the PokéMart.  Falco and Bowser followed.

            Aside from two or three trainers searching the racks of the store for their desired items and the clerk behind the counter, the store was empty.  Fox and Falco approached the counter while Bowser stood at the door and scanned the store's walls for the sword.

"Can I help you?" the clerk asked Fox.  Falco turned around to check on Bowser.

"Yeah," Fox replied, "How many Pokéballs can I get for 1,000 poké dollars?"

"Bowser!" Falco tried to get Bowser's attention without the clerk hearing.  Falco pointed above Bowser's head.  Bowser quickly spun around and looked up.  There, resting on two extended pieces of wood, was what they had been searching for.  The divine sword used by Marth, the Falchion.

"At 200 dollars each you can get five," the clerk answered.

"Alright, and how much is a potion?" Fox asked, still trying to distract the clerk.

"You aren't from here, are you?" the clerk asked, "This is all common knowledge."

Bowser reached up and simply lifted the sword off its stand.  Holding the sword in plain view he exited the store.

"Hey, Fox," Falco said once he was sure Bowser had made a safe escape, "We're going."

"Alright," Fox returned.  Fox finished his transaction with the clerk and purchased five Pokéballs.  The clerk handed Fox his purchases in a plastic bag with the Pokémon logo and his receipt.

            Outside, Bowser and Zelda had begun walking back to the craft.  Falco leaned against the building waiting for Fox.  As Fox exited, Falco and he made haste to catch up to Zelda and Bowser.

"I still don't think you had to steal it," Zelda said to Bowser.

"Well did you have a better plan?" Bowser responded.  Fox and Falco reached the other two smashers.

"That was actually a great plan," Falco admitted.

"And I got these Pokéballs," Fox entered the conversation.

"Why do they add poké to everything?" Falco asked.

"Now you owe me 1,000 poké dollars," Zelda told Fox firmly.

"What is that to you?  You're a noble in a country with a 'good' economy."

"But we don't have a," Zelda stopped in the middle of her sentence.

"Alright, we're here anyway," Falco said pointing to the space shuttle.

            Later, the four were back in their rental shuttle and en route to Hyrule Castle Town.

"So, why are we going back to Hyrule?" Falco asked.

"Don't ask me, I'm not flying," Zelda stated.

"Now all we have to do is find Marth, and he usually hangs out in Ye Olde Town," Fox answered.

"Still, it's a big city," Bowser said, "I should know, I once was planning to invade…"

"What?" Zelda asked, shocked.

"Um…nothing," Bowser said innocently.

"No really, what was that last part?" Zelda asked again.

"Umm," Bowser tried to change the subject, "So that theft was easy, huh?"

"Someone remind me to challenge Bowser to a match when we get back," Zelda said, prepared to extract revenge.

"Back on topic," Fox cut in, "Where exactly do we begin looking for Marth, assuming he's even in the city."

"Just land outside the city walls," Zelda instructed.

"Alright," Fox acknowledged.  The shuttle began a slow decent and within minutes touched down south of the city.  Bowser and Falco went ahead to search for Marth while Fox and Zelda stayed behind and watched over the shuttle.

"So really," Fox began to make small talk, "why do you care if Marth gets his sword back or not?  Why do you like him?"

"I don't like him!" Zelda promptly answered, "I just don't think anyone should suffer like that."

"You're like the only super smash brother or sister that likes him, most everyone else wants him gone."

"You know now that I like Link, can we leave it at that?"

"Fine," Fox said backing off the touchy topic.

            Meanwhile Falco and Bowser were halfway to the only bridge into the city when Falco spotted something.

"Hey," Falco got Bowser's attention.  "Is that him?"  Falco pointed forward to one of the marble pillars lying horizontally outside the drawbridge parallel to the lengths of the lowered wooden bridge.

"I can't see him," Bowser replied, "He's too far away."

"It looks a lot like him.  He's got the cape and the blue hair," Falco examined him more closely.  "Quick, hide the sword."

Bowser looked down at the sword he was holding.  "Where?"

"Just keep it behind your back!"

Bowser looked confused for a few moments.  "I can't reach behind my shell."

"Oh, just give it to me!"  Falco grabbed the sword from Bowser and hid it behind his back.

"Won't he know you're hiding something?  No one walks with one hand behind their back."

"Then why don't you go up and talk to him while I keep the sword safe?"

"I have another idea," Bowser announced.

"I'll hear it only because your last idea worked."

"I'll go up to Marth and beat him unconscious.  Then we just leave the sword on the ground a few feet away and fly off."

"Haven't we done enough criminal action for one day?"

"Are you kidding!?  Is this coming from you, Falco?"

"Hey, I'm not evil like you."  Falco grabbed the shoulders of his jacket and pulled them up a bit, only to let go and have them fall back to their original place.  "I went legit."

"Fine, go and be legit.  I still want a piece of Marth."

"Then you go over there and fight him."

"Good idea!"  Bowser left Falco and walked over towards Marth.  Falco stood where he was holding the Falchion behind his back.  He was able to make out Bowser getting Marth's attention and a few gesticulations while the two talked.

            "Why shouldn't I?  Without my sword I can't compete in the melee arena.  Tomorrow I resign as a fighter," Marth announced.

"Oh come on!" Bowser said disgusted, "This has got to be one of the sorriest displays of weakness I've ever seen!"

"You've seen what happened in all my matches I had to fight without my sword!"

"I can help you get your sword back."

"Oh, and how exactly can you help?"

"I know who has it, and I can get it to you within the hour," Bowser said with black market intrepidity.

"Really?" Marth asked gullibly.

"But first," Bowser began.

"What?"

"I want a one-on-one match right here and right now!"

"What?  But I don't have my sword back yet."

"Yes, I know.  I've always wanted to get a one-on-one with you without your precious sword."

"But why?" Marth asked, a little unsure of Bowser's exact intentions.

"That sword you effortlessly swing around in a match is just unfair to anyone fighting you.  I think everyone knows what kind of fight you put up without the Falchion now."

"Then why do you want to fight me?"

Bowser paused for a moment.  "Revenge!"  Bowser punched Marth across his chin, causing him to fall to the ground.  Bowser stepped back a few feet and raised his fists in a boxing stance.  Marth pushed off the ground with his hands and rose to his feet.  He faced Bowser and raised his fists.

"Come on, show me what you got."  Bowser struck another blow, this time to Marth's abdomen.  Marth bent down and gripped his injured area in pain.

"Stand up," Bowser taunted, "Come on!  What kind of fighter are you?"

Marth stood upright, still holding his bruised mid-section with one hand.  Bowser made another swift punch across Marth's face.  Marth wasn't knocked over by the force of the punch, but a few moments after the impact fell backwards to the grass below.  Bowser looked down at his fallen opponent.  He thought he saw a small spill of blood leaking out of Marth's nose.  Marth's eyes were closed and his breathing was heavy.

"Thou doth use-eth a sword of metal because thou hasth none of flesh."

Bowser looked up to see Falco, Fox, and Zelda looking down at Marth.  Falco tossed the Falchion down beside Marth's fallen body without remorse.  Fox was the first to turn around and walk back towards the shuttle.  Zelda noticed Fox leaving and quickly ran to catch up with him.

"Fox, wait up!" Zelda said as she caught up.  Fox stopped but did not look at Zelda.

"What is it, Zelda?"

"I can't get the thought that this was all my fault out of my head."

  
Falco and Bowser approached the two.  "Don't worry about it.  He had that coming to him," Falco said.

"I say we just get out of here," Bowser suggested.

"I'm all for that," Zelda announced.  The four departed the scene, never to talk about their acts of this day.  Marth's sword was returned but the type of fighter he truly was had been exposed.

=========================================================================

Author's Notes: 

I started this fic about a month ago when I, one of the, if not the, best SSBM players in my area was defeated by a regular player using Marth.  All he did was simply kept hitting A so I couldn't get anywhere near close enough to execute an attack.  Obviously this hurt my reputation and now I totally hate Marth.  Well, without his super-long-reaching sword he's really nothing.  

This was NOT meant to be a Zelda/Marth romance fic.  I denounce all Zelda/Marth fics, Zelda is with Link, enough said.  This was never meant to be a Zelda/Fox romance fic either.  I guess if it was that would be the first of its kind, but the constant meeting between Zelda and Fox just happened, I didn't plan any of this.

Aside from what this fic was meant to be and what it turned into, I wrote it at many different times and some parts might not flow as well as others.  I finally got out all I wanted to say about Marth in the last part of Chapter 6.  If I get flamed for not liking Marth then so be it.


End file.
